1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to digital photography and, more particularly, to delivery of digital image files to image processing labs.
2. Description of Related Art
The art and popularity of digital photography has grown significantly over recent years. As a general matter, digital photography is very similar to conventional film-based photography, except that photographs taken with a digital camera are stored as digital files rather than being recorded on film. Digital photography thereby provides users with immediate access to photographs without the need for film developing.
Typically, a digital camera will receive and resolve light into an array of pixels that cooperatively represent an image, and the camera will produce digital representations of each pixel, reflecting image characteristics such as color and intensity. The camera will then store the digital pixel representations together in a digital image file, usually on a removable storage medium such as a Flash memory card for instance. Most digital cameras further include an LCD display screen that a user can employ as a viewfinder and to selectively view stored images. Further, a user can typically transfer images from a digital camera onto a personal computer, for viewing, e-mailing, storing and editing, through a cable connection between the camera and computer, or by removing a memory card from the camera and coupling the card to the computer.
Provided with the ability to capture and instantly view and manipulate digital images, users of digital cameras tend to build large collections of digital image files, which users can view electronically. Ultimately, however, users often want to print some or all of their digital images, in order to share hard copies of the images with friends and family, to store the hard copies in photo albums and scrapbooks, or for other reasons.
Recent advances in ink jet printers have enabled users to print photos at home. However, many users do not own a suitable photo printer. And users who do own a home printer may encounter difficulty or otherwise be dissatisfied with the home printing process. For instance, users who print photos at home often have to cut the photos to size after printing, which is burdensome. Further, ink jet printed photos might not be as colorfast as photos printed by exposing light on photo paper, so users may prefer the traditional photo printing process.
Responding to this need, many companies have begun to offer online photo printing services or online “processing labs.” Typically, these services are accessible over the Internet or over some other data network. In operation, a user can send digital image files to a desired online processing lab, through e-mail or web posting (e.g., file-transfer-protocol). The processing lab then receives the files, prints the underlying images (preferably on high quality photo paper, and preferably with traditional light exposure mechanisms, rather than ink-jet printing), and then ships the printed images to the user.